Vaughan Book Reviews

As I own all of the Bantam-era Star Wars books that I bought and read in my childhood, I decided to re-read them all in chronological order and review them, based on my impressions of them.

To supplement this, I have also purchased two of the Del Rey-era stand-alone novels that are part of the relevant time period I am covering, plus the novelisations of the new films.

I will be reading novels only, with the exception of the Dark Empire comic series, of which I have the audio play and written transcripts to refer to. I will be reading all Bantam books, plus those five Del Rey books mentioned, from The Phantom Menace through to Vision of the Future.

If you do not want to read about my opinion, then go away. :P

I will be using the following scale for my review summaries, ranging from Embarrassing' up to Awesome. As a point of example, I am expecting something like The Crystal Star or Darksabre to be Embarrassing, while Revenge of the Sith will be Awesome.

Here is the complete list of review summary terms, from best to worst:

• Awesome — Oh my god! I want this book's offspring! I recommend everyone ready this book immediately, as I shall re-read it now!
• Excellent — Wow! This was pretty damned good. This is one I'll definitely be re-reading at some point.
• Very Good — A solid read that I would recommend to others.
• Good — A good book, above average.
• Okay — An average read, but not excessively poor.
• Poor — Nothing spectacular, kind of boring.
• Very Poor — This book was crap. I will make a point of never reading it again.
• Pathetic — This book was so bad that I will go out of my way to urge others not to read it. I don't hate it as much as I just find it extremely low quality.
• Embarrassing — Words . . . cannot describe how bad I feel . . . this makes me feel embarrassed to be a Star Wars fan . . . I will be setting this book on fire and pretending it never existed!

Without further ado . . .

The Phantom Menace

Episode I of the Star Wars film saga.

OKAY (An average read, but not excessively poor.)

Felt more like a narration of the film than a book. The beginning was more descriptive, but towards the end it was merely outlining what was happening on the cinema screen. That said, it was an enjoyable read, and did explain some parts of the story better than the film.

Attack of the Clones

Episode II of the Star Wars film saga.

GOOD (A good book, above average.)

Better than The Phantom Menace. Possibly because I had never read this before, then again I could not remember much of the Episode I novelisation when I re-read it. . . Suffered from the same symptoms as The Phantom Menace towards the end, as it degenerated from book to mere narration of events happening on-screen. One point, though: the book made me actually care about Jango and Boba Fett, as it gave them more depth than 'villain' and 'evil son'. Almost made me sad that Windu chopped his head off.

Revenge of the Sith

Episode III of the Star Wars film saga.

AWESOME (Oh my god! I want this book's offspring! I recommend everyone ready this book immediately, as I shall re-read it now!)

This was so much better than the previous two, as it actually felt like a BOOK, not a mere adapted screenplay. Reminded me of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy in places, structurally -- but not focused on humour, even though there was some decent humour throughout. This book took so long to get through because I made sure I stopped regularly to savour it, as I had not bough the next book, The Rise of Dark Vader, yet. I cannot stress how truly excellent this book is. It also ties in so many Expanded Universe elements, such as Carrack-class light cruisers, Garm Bel Iblis, and even a mention that the Sith could only be defeated by 'the new Jedi Order'. When I finish reading the entire collection, I intend to return to re-read this one, as it is by far the best novelisation of the three that I have read so far. The only part where it really falls down, is the last few chapters -- which fly past in a blur, with the last scenes of the film being condensed into single paragraphs each, which left my feeling ripped off and wanting. This seems to be a flaw present in all of the prequel novelisations.